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Christ Invites Our Confidence, June 4
[Jesus] said ..., follow me.
Luke 9:58, 59
.
The fall of our first parents broke the golden chain of implicit obedience of
the human will to the divine. Obedience has no longer been deemed an absolute
necessity. The human agents follow their own imaginations which the Lord said
of the inhabitants of the old world was evil and that continually. The Lord Jesus
declares, I have kept my Father’s commandments. How? As a man! “Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God.” To the accusations of the Jews He stood forth in His pure,
virtuous, holy character and challenged them, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?”
The world’s Redeemer came not only to be a sacrifice for sin, but to be an example
to man in all things. He was a teacher, such an educator as the world never saw or
heard before. He spoke as one having authority, and yet He invites the confidence
of all....
The only begotten Son of the infinite God has, by His Word, His practical
example, left us a plain pattern which we are to copy. By His words He has educated
us to obey God, and by His own practice He has showed us how we can obey God.
This is the very work He wants every man to do, to obey God intelligently and by
precept and example teach others what they must do in order to be obedient children
of God.
Jesus has helped the whole world to an intelligent knowledge of His divine
mission and work. He came to represent the character of the Father to our world,
and as we study the life, the words, and works of Jesus Christ, we are helped in
every way in the education of obedience to God; and as we copy the example He
has given us, we are living epistles known and read of all men. We are the living
human agencies to represent in character Jesus Christ to the world. Not only did
Christ give explicit rules showing how we may become obedient children, but He
showed us in His own life and character just how to do those things which are right
and acceptable with God, so there is no excuse why we should not do those things
which are pleasing in His sight.
We are ever to be thankful that Jesus has proved to us by actual facts that man
can keep the commandments of God, giving contradiction to Satan’s falsehood that
man cannot keep them. The Great Teacher came to our world to stand at the head
of humanity, to thus elevate and sanctify humanity by His holy obedience to all of
God’s requirements showing it is possible to obey all the commandments of God.
He has demonstrated that a lifelong obedience is possible. Thus He gives men to the
world, as the Father gave the Son, to exemplify in their life the life of Jesus Christ....
Jesus says, “Follow me” (
Manuscript 1, 1892
).
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